CHAPTER 6 VOLTAGE REGULATOR

POWER SUPPLIES (VOLTAGE REGULATORS) Fig. 6.1 Block diagram showing parts of a power supply. Power supply Power supply: a group of circuits that convert the standard ac voltage (120 V, 60 Hz) provided by the wall outlet to constant dc voltage. Transformer Transformer : a device that step up or step down the ac voltage provided by the wall outlet to a desired amplitude through the action of a magnetic field.

Rectifier Rectifier: a diode circuits that converts the ac input voltage to a pulsating dc voltage. The pulsating dc voltage is only suitable to be used as a battery charger, but not good enough to be used as a dc power supply in a radio, stereo system, computer and so on.

There are two basic types of rectifier circuits: 1. Half-wave rectifier 2. Full-wave rectifier i) Center-tapped full-wave rectifier ii) Bridge rectifier In summary, a full-wave rectified signal has less ripple than a half-wave rectified signal and is thus better to apply to a filter.

Filter steadier Filter: a circuit used to reduce the fluctuation in the rectified output voltage or ripple. This provides a steadier dc voltage. Regulatorconstant Regulator: a circuit used to produces a constant dc output voltage by reducing the ripple to negligible amount.

VOLTAGE REGULATION Two basic categories of voltage regulation are:  line regulation;  load regulation. line regulation input voltage The purpose of line regulation is to maintain a nearly constant output voltage when the input voltage varies. load regulation load The purpose of load regulation is to maintain a nearly constant output voltage when the load varies.

Figure 6–2 Line regulation. A change in input (line) voltage does not significantly affect the output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits).

Figure 6–3 Load regulation. A change in load current has practically no effect on the output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits).

Line regulation can be defined as the percentage change in the output voltage for a given change in the input voltage. Line Regulation Line regulation can be calculated using the following formula: Δ means “a change in”. (6-1) (6-2)

Load regulation can be defined as the percentage change in the output voltage from no-load (NL) to full-load (FL). where V NL = the no-load output voltage V FL = the full-load output voltage Load Regulation (6-3)

TYPES OF REGULATOR Two basic types of voltage regulator are the series regulator and the shunt regulator. The series regulator is connected in series with the load and the shunt regulator is connected in parallel with the load. Figure 6.4 Series and shunt regulators.

Series Regulator Circuit Figure 6.5 Block diagram of the basic connection of a series regulator circuit. The series element controls the amount of the input voltage that gets to the output. The output voltage is sampled by a circuit that provides a feedback voltage to be compared to a reference voltage.

Transistor Series Regulator Figure 6.6 Pass-transistor regulator. The transistor series regulator is also called the pass-transistor regulator because the load current passes through the series transistor.

Equation ( ) explains the response of the pass-transistor to a change in load resistance as follows: - If load resistance increases, load voltage also increases. - Since the Zener voltage is constant, the increase in V o causes V BE to decrease. - The decrease in V BE reduces conduction through the pass- transistor, so load current decreases. - This offsets the increase in load resistance, and a relatively constant load voltage is maintained. Since Q 1 is an npn transistor, V o is found as (6-4)

Op-Amp Series Regulator Fig. 6.7 Op-amp series regulator circuit. Control Element Error Detector Sample Circuit V REF The resistor R 1 and R 2 sense a change in the output voltage and provide a feedback voltage. The error detector compares the feedback voltage with a Zener diode reference voltage.

Control Element Error Detector Sample Circuit V REF The resulting difference voltage causes the transistor Q 1 controls the conduction to compensate the variation of the output voltage. The output voltage will be maintained at a constant value of: (6-5)

Shunt Regulator Circuit Fig. 6.8 Block diagram of shunt voltage regulator. The unregulated input voltage provides current to the load. Some of the current is pulled away by the control element.

If the load voltage tries to change due to a change in the load resistance, the sampling circuit provides a feedback signal to a comparator. The resulting difference voltage then provides a control signal to vary the amount of the current shunted away from the load to maintain the regulated output voltage across the load.

Transistor Shunt Regulator Fig. 6.9 Transistor shunt voltage regulator. The control element is a transistor, in parallel with the load. While, the resistor, R S, is in series with the load. similar The operation of the transistor shunt regulator is similar to that of the transistor series regulator, except that regulation is achieved by controlling the current through the parallel transistor.

The output voltage to the load is This explains that the voltage across the load is set by the Zener diode voltage and the transistor base-emitter voltage. If the load resistance decreases, the load current will be larger at a value of: (6-6) (6-7)

The increase in load current causes the collector current shunted by the transistor is to be less as expressed in the following formula: The current through R S is calculated as follows: (6-8) (6-9)

Op-Amp Shunt Regulator Fig Shunt voltage regulator using an op-amp. When the output voltage tries to decrease due to a change in input voltage or load current caused by a change in load resistance, the decrease is sensed by R 1 and R 2.

A feedback voltage obtained from voltage divider R 1 and R 2 is applied to the op-amp’s non-inverting input and compared to the Zener voltage to control the drive current to the transistor. The difference voltage reduces the op-amp’s output, but increasing the collector voltage. This keeps the load output nearly constant.

Switching Regulator The switching regulator is a type of regulator circuit which its efficient transfer of power to the load is greater than series and shunt regulators because the transistor is not always conducting. The switching regulator passes voltage to the load in pulses, which then filtered to provide a smooth dc voltage. Fig Block representation of three-terminal voltage regulator.

Switching Regulator With the step-down (output is less than the input) configuration the control element Q 1 is pulsed on and off at variable rate based on the load current. The pulsations are filtered out by the LC filter.

Switching Regulator

The step-up configuration works much the same as the step-down. The difference is in the placement of the inductor and the fact that Q 1 is shunt configured. During the time when Q 1 is off the V L adds to V C stepping the voltage up by some amount.

Switching Regulator

With the voltage-inverter configuration the output voltage is of opposite polarity of the input. This is achieved by V L forward-biasing reverse-biased diode during the off times producing current and charging the capacitor for voltage production during the off times. With switching regulators 90% efficiencies can be achieved.

Switching Regulator

IC VOLTAGE REGULATORS Several types of both linear (series and shunt) and switching regulators are available in integrated circuit (IC) form. Single IC regulators contain the circuitry for: (1)reference source, (2)comparator amplifier, (3)control device, and; (4)overload protection. Generally, the linear regulators are three-terminal devices that provides either positive or negative output voltages that can be either fixed or adjustable.

Fixed Voltage Regulator The fixed voltage regulator has an unregulated dc input voltage V i applied to one input terminal, a regulated output dc voltage V o from a second terminal, and the third terminal connected to ground. Fixed-Positive Voltage Regulator The series 78XX regulators are the three-terminal devices that provide a fixed positive output voltage. Fig (a) Standard configuration of the series 78XX regulator and (b) typical packages (a) (b)

The figure above shows: An unregulated input voltage V i is filtered by a capacitor C 1 and connected to the IC’s IN terminal. The IC’s OUT terminal provides a regulated +12 V, which is filtered by capacitor C 2. The third IC terminal is connected to ground (GND). Fig Standard configuration of a 7812 voltage regulator.

IC Part Output Voltage (V) Minimum V i (V) TABLE 6-1: Positive-Voltage Regulators in the 78XX Series.

Fixed-Negative Voltage Regulator The series 79XX regulators are the three-terminal IC regulators that provide a fixed negative output voltage. This series has the same features and characteristics as the series 78XX regulators except the pin numbers are different. Fig Standard configuration.

IC Part Output Voltage (V) Minimum V i (V) TABLE 6-2: Negative-Voltage Regulators in the 79XX Series.

Adjustable-Voltage Regulator Voltage regulators are also available in circuit configurations that allow to set the output voltage to a desired regulated value. The LM317 is an example of an adjustable-voltage regulator, can be operated over the range of voltage from 1.2 to 37 V. Fig Connection of LM317 adjustable-voltage regulator.